History of Romance languages, and especially history of the French language

Duration

30h Th, 15h Pr

Number of credits

Lecturer

François Provenzano

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

The course proposes an introduction to the history of romance languages, from the early latinization of the Roman Empire, until the contemporary era. This external historical point of view is introduced by 1) a presentation of the useful concepts for the linguistic description (especially the variation phenomenon), and 2) a general overview of the actual presence of the romance languages in the world.The historical part of the course distinguishes five periods, according to external criterias. For each period, we will examine the linguistic implications of these historical phenomena, we will discuss a particular grammatical issue and we will comment a representative textual fragment.A particular attention will be given to the history of French. A detailed course outline will be made available to students.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

By the end of the course, the student will be able to : - identify the different perspectives to describe a language and its variation ; - situate geographically and typologically the different romance varieties ; - know the main chronological steps in the evolution of the romance varieties (particularly the French variety); - abstract from these patterns both specific and general factors that explain linguistic change in Romania ; - produce a grammatical analysis of a linguistic phenomenon ; - produce a philological comment of a textual fragment analyzed in class.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Good oral and written command of French.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Lectures, with discussion between teacher and students. At the start of each session, students can ask questions about the preceding session.Some parts of the sessions will include the analysis of case study analysis by students and commented upon by the teacher. The part focused on the history of French will be composed of reading exercices of ancien texts, which will require an active participation from the students. Practical modalities will be determined during the first class. This part will also rely on the mandatory reading of an handbook (see below).

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)

Face-to-face only.

Recommended or required readings

For the part dedicated to the history of Romance languages, a syllabus (electronic version) is made available to students. This syllabus was made by the students of the previous academic years and was corrected by the teacher. Students will take notes during class; their presence in class is therefore compulsory. During the course, I will post on the "MyULg" portal the geographic maps and the texts analyzed in class. To complete their notes or study a subject in greater detail, students can refer to the following references which are provided for information and will be commented upon during the first class :

• P. Bec, Manuel pratique de philologie romane, 2 vol., Paris, Picard, 1970-1971.
• G. Ernst et al. (éd.), Romanische Sprachgeschichte / L'histoire linguistique de la Romania (HSK 23.1-3), 3 vol., Berlin/New York, De Gruyter, 2003-2006.

• F. Gingras, Miroir du français. Eléments pour une histoire culturelle de la langue française, Montréal, PUM, 2014.

• M.D. Glessgen, Linguistique romane. Domaines et méthodes en linguistique française et romane, Paris, Armand Colin, 2007.
• J.M. Klinkenberg, Des langues romanes, Louvain-la-Neuve, Duculot, 1994.
• A. Lodge, French: from Dialect to Standard, London/New York, Routledge, 1993.

• PERRET (Michèle), Introduction à l'histoire de la langue française, 4e édition, Paris, Armand Colin, 2014.

Assessment methods and criteria

Written exam, during the January session ; duration : max. 3h. Two types of knowledge and skills will be assessed:

• encyclopaedic knowledge of the facts, either linguistic or extralinguistic (i.e. history, geography, sociology or literacy);
• understanding of the concepts of linguistic description, and their correct use about specific phenomena.

• the ex-cathedra lessons on the history of Romance languages;
• the practical sessions on the history of French;
• the mandatory reading (see above).

• the relevance and accuracy of the answer ;
• the care in formulation ;
• synthesis capacity and articulation of ideas ;
• the spelling of names and concepts presented in class.

Work placement(s)

Organizational remarks

The course will take place only during the 1st term, on Wednesday, from 11 AM to 1 PM, on classroom Kurth.
The practical sessions devoted to the history of the French language will take place on Fridays (from 3 to 4 PM), alternating with the practical sessions of Historical Phonetics. A schedule of the meetings will be announced at the beginning of the class.
Resumption : Wednesday 20/09/2017, 11AM, classroom Kurth.

Contacts

Teacher François PROVENZANO, chargé de cours Département de Langues et littératures françaises et romanes Service de Sciences du langage et rhétorique Place Cockerill, 3-5, bât. A2, 4000 Liège. Tél. 04 366 56 45 Mail : Francois.Provenzano@ulg.ac.be Surgery hours: Wednesdays, from 9.30 to 11, office A2/4/4 (from September 20) Secretary Ariane Nusgens : 04 366 56 50 

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